"Mom, I Love You!"

It's a frigidly freezing Tuesday morning. The three biggest children are off to school, and even though it's been an hour since we returned from our drive down to the bus stop (yes, I drive to the bus stop in the winter), I just cannot seem to be warm enough. I've downed my big round mug of coffee, and I'm wearing a baggy old sweatshirt from my little brother's college days, but my toes and fingers are still chilled. Maybe I need some of those fingerless gloves for typing that Ebenezer Scrooge used to wear for counting his money. I can hear the roar of the furnace, and a few scarce birds chirping outside. What are they still doing here? The only other sound that breaks up the silence of this early part of our day is my five-year-old Marshall randomly announcing that he loves me. Forget about my frozen bones, I have that sweet little dude to warm me up.

He's sitting a few chairs away from me, quietly playing Angry Birds, breathing through his mouth and sniffling...and then I hear, "Mom? I love you."

It has been a few weeks since I noticed my youngest son giving me these constant reminders that he loves me. When I'm cooking dinner, brushing my teeth, playing a game with him, cleaning the floor. It's always the same. "Mom? I love you."

I'll admit that even though he has been doing it for quite a long time, I still find myself taken by surprise each time he speaks those sweet words. I'm usually preparing myself for one of the many other questions my preschooler poses each day:

"Mom? Can I have a snack?"

"Mom? Do I have school today?"

"Mom? Will you turn on Jake?"

Or his most frequently occurring request: "Mom? Will you clean my glasses?"

For now, I'm going to take these numb hands of mine from the keyboard and go wrap them around my little son. He needs me. Maybe we'll hibernate with a blanket till everyone else comes home. Then, they will ask us what we did all day. Will it matter?

I'd love for you to find me on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/mamalovesyouandchocolatetoo